After a prosecutor and defense attorney vigorously argued Friday whether murder defendant Troy Allen Robinson's trial should be postponed for seven more months, a Shawnee County District Court judge denied postponing trial until January 2015.

Instead, the trial of Robinson remains scheduled to start in one month on June 23. When the trial starts, it will mark 18 months since the victim was killed.

Robinson, 25, of Topeka, is charged with felony first-degree murder in the slaying on Dec. 18, 2012, of Oma "Shannon" Bennett, 43, and aggravated burglary.

Julia Spainhour, the second attorney appointed to represent Robinson, replaced an earlier attorney who had a conflict of interest and had to get off the case.

After Judge Nancy Parrish denied Spainhour's request for more time, the defense attorney requested Parrish order assistant district attorney Dan Dunbar to disclose before trial whether he will seek the "Hard 50" sentence if Robinson is convicted of murder.

In a Hard 50 case, jurors first decide whether the defendant is guilty, and if he is, jurors then decide whether to sentence him to the 50-year prison term.

Spainhour said knowing that Dunbar is seeking the Hard 50 would allow her to schedule defense witnesses to testify during the sentencing.

Much of the dispute about rescheduling the trial to 2015 centered on whether the Hard 50 would be sought in Robinson's sentence.

Spainhour said the Hard 50 statute, enacted by special session of the Kansas Legislature in September 2013, requires the prosecutor to provide "reasonable notice" to the defense attorney whether that sentence will be sought.

The new statute, which replaced an earlier version, was enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Hard 50 sentence in another state.

Dunbar earlier said he isn't required to provide advance notice.

The judge said she would review the Hard 50 statute, then rule.

Earlier Friday, Spainhour asked for the postponement to January 2015, which "seems like a reasonable request."

Spainhour said she had a "fairly significant" caseload, which includes the Billy Frank Davis Jr. capital murder trial in October; a first-degree murder case in Junction City, which could evolve into a capital case; an aggravated battery and rape case in Lyon County; the retrial of a rape case in Shawnee County; and two other rape cases.

Dunbar opposed the seven-month postponement, noting he wasn't saying the postponement was "unreasonable" but it was "unnecessary." The Robinson case "is not that complex" of a case to try, Dunbar said.

June "is the best time to try the (Robinson) case," Dunbar said. "After June, things get worse" when the cases listed by Spainhour will start to be tried.

The judge noted how long the Robinson case has been awaiting trial, saying a January 2015 trial would be after the second anniversary of the victim's death.